T H E C O V E N A N T E R
was a Lance Corporal in the Scottish Rifles with any member of the Dykes Loudon
and was wounded and was shot in the left family.
humourous, lower third, at Colenso at the
end of January 1900. yours etc,
As far as I understand this battle at the Alastair JC Hewat OBE
end of January was the Battle of Spion Kop
where the Scottish Rifles had three officers Sir,
and 23 men killed and 7 officers and 54 I have often been asked why the 1st
men wounded. Battalion wore a Black Hackle in their caps
Can anyone confirm that my great uncle TOS during the war. The answer is a very
is one of these 54 wounded? Charlie was simple one. On our return to India to refit
discharged from the Army medically unfit after the Burma Campaign of 1942, I was
due to this wound, which gave him his war informed by Ordnance that no caps TOS
pension. were available in India and that we would
Also can anyone confirm that if he was a have to wear forage caps. However we had
Bandsman this would give him a position a considerable stock of suitable cloth in
as a stretcher bearer, which meant that he the Tailor’s Shop and a tailor who could
worked in the battle with a famous stretcher make caps TOS, but it would be rather
bearer called Ghandi. an expensive item. I was feeling a bit
I look forward to hearing from you. disgruntled at the time, as one is apt to after
an unsuccessful campaign and considered
Yours etc, that as the only Scottish Unit in the Burma
Simon Izzard Army we had done nothing to merit being
49 Chester Road deprived of our head-dress.
Stevenage I therefore wrote to the Army Commander
Herts (General Beresford Peirse) explaining the
SG1 4JY situation and asked him to represent it to
the C-in-C General Wavell. I felt on fairly
P.S. Do you know where his medals are? firm ground here, as I knew that a Battalion
of the Black Watch had recently arrived in
Sir, India. General Beresford-Peirse replied that
I have been trying since March to find out he would bring the matter up at the next
from the Cameronians Museum, Hamilton Army Commanders Conference, but in the
if they had a copy of the film that was taken meantime to get on with making caps TOS
just before, the Regiment came back from and that the cost would be met.
Malaya in May 1953, I was in ‘C’ coy and The next snag was that the supply of
we did drill for the Camera and I would like cap badges in India had run out. Specimen
a copy to show my family before it is too ‘bazaar made’ products were too awful
late. I am now almost 72 years old and time to contemplate but again we had a
is not on my side. considerable stock of small black plumes for
Maybe an appeal in the Covenanter could wearing in the (then obsolete) pith helmet.
be made to see if I could get the film so I understood that the wearing of a hackle
I could make a video of it and return the with caps TOS was the prerogative of the
original to whoever has it now or get a copy Black Watch, so I wrote to the C-in-C asking
of the video if anyone has it on video. for permission for the Battalion to wear a
I would pay any expenses incurred. black hackle. This was granted, I think, by
return of post.
yours etc,
Ronald Henderson (Ex Cameronian) Yours etc,
Colonel WB Thomas
Sir, (taken from The Covenanter June 1963)
Some time ago I purchased a piece of
Regimental Silver namely ‘The Dykes Sir,
Loudon Cup 1937’. The inscription reads It is a great pity that ‘The Covenanter’ only
‘Presented to 6th (Lanarkshire) Battalion The has one edition a year. This means that I
Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) by Major W will have to wait a year to read what other
Dykes Loudon & Mrs Dykes Loudon in memory readers think of my personal opinion.
of their sons Robin & Kenneth’ I joined up in 1951, and left the Army in
I would very much like to make contact 1986. During the years 70-73 I was RSM at
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